Unexpected Bonds
by logosvital
Summary: John, Ronon, Rodney and Lorne take a walk through the woods. Easy Mission, right? Never! Lots of Lorne whumpage with some left for Sheppard of course. Male bonding. No slash. Strange wildlife. My First!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Unexpected

Major Evan Lorne struggled for breath. His chest rising and falling haltingly, and irregular pause augmenting the effort it took him to capture the air his body so desperately needed. His thoughts were fragmented. Confused. Disjointed. "Beautiful cerulean blue sky. Forest. Large Red Trees. Dark. Shadows. Enemy. His CO, Colonel Sheppard shouting a muffled warning but too late. His last conscious thought was the irony of dying in an unknown world to an unknown threat. The enemy had yet to reveal themselves.

Major Lorne recalled stepping through the stargate onto the lush green Jungle that was as of yet an unexplored planet known only as MX345-32. A possible Alpha site. The life sign scan had revealed an ambiguous population of 1,500 or so. A speck of humanity on a planet covered in forests and oceans and deserts and canyons.

Things had been surprisingly uneventful on Atlantis as of late and his CO had talked him into an off world trip. An uneventful jaunt to a "safe" world, so to speak. A break from the monotony. He had a feeling that Sheppard had just wanted a chance to catch up with his next in command. To have a joint endeavor to talk about. Some much needed down time away from the sterile walls of the alien city they each called home. They never expected… this.

Surprisingly enough, McKay was the first to notice something odd. They had been walking through lush forests of trees that resembled hardwoods only somewhat taller and bigger, maybe comparable to the Redwoods. Ronan, stoic as always led the way. Colonel Sheppard covering the six o'clock position, with Lorne an McKay in the middle. Lorne was just glad to get away from the tedium of rosters and reports, most of which his CO had quite unceremoniously delegated or rather dumped on his second in command. Oddly enough, the forest was eerily quiet, lacking the normal hum of insects or the soothing sound of leaves rifled by breeze or of water rippling happily downstream. Of course the quiet was short lived. McKay was on the team. Five minutes max.

"Umm, guys. These readings, well, I've never seen them before. And when I say never, I mean never. The fluctuation in radion and gamma. Well, it's scientifically impossible. Well…. Improbable to the one-millionth…"

"Rodney" interrupts John. "English, please" as he rolls his eyes and catches Lorne's eye in a commiserating sort of way. That's the last conscious thought that flashed through Evan's mind as he was suddenly seeing the forest in a distorted view, the bright blue hue of the sky that he had previously thought to be the most unusual and vivid hue he had ever imagined….one that he'd might try to emulate on paper with oil and water…turned upside down as he fell face down onto the damp, dark earth and a fiery stab of red hot pain gripped the right side of his torso, from his ribcage down to his lower hip and even down to the bottom of his knee cap.

Evan heard an unearthly scream of anguish and almost called out to ascertain who needed help until he realized it had emitted from his own mouth. The rest came in blurs of grey and black and red until finally he succumbed to blackness of a sky devoid of stars or pain or conscious thought…..

XXX

One moment Colonel John Sheppard had been walking peacefully in a quiet wooded forest of giant red trees, reveling in the boringness of a planet possibly untouched by war or wraith or whatever. He distinctly remembered turning back towards Evan, his second in command, to quirk a grin and roll his eyes at something Rodney had said that was so unremarkably "Rodney" when in horror he saw a shadow of a figure crouching 10 meters or so to the right of Major Lorne and moving with a ghostly speed. He remembered yelling a warning and watching but unable to help as the right half of Major Lorne's body blossomed red in a sickly and surreal effigy of color. It took too long to raise his P-90, but in actuality was only hairs of a second, as he burned round after round into the darkness of the forest where the dark shadows had turned into nothingness.

A quick glance ahead revealed McKay curled on the ground in a near fetal position, face frozen between shock, self preservation and the desire to glean information from his data pad that was now screaming at him in almost human shrieks.

Lorne, on the other hand was face first in the moist ground, inhuman moans emanating from him as he struggled to battle his pain and his desire to get up to battle whatever threat was now surrounding them.

John locked eyes with Ronan who was crouched several meters to his right, eyes vigilantly scanning the dark woods. Ronan shook his head almost imperceptibly and whispered, "whoever or whatever it was, they're gone now. Quicker than a human, for sure." he growled. Ronan then glanced at Major Lorne and Sheppard gave him a nod and quickly closed the last remaining meters between himself and his second in command, quietly cursing his decision to ask the Major to join them on this "excursion." He gently knelt beside Evan, turning him over and prying his hands from the P-90, that even in his obvious pain, he still gripped with dying devotion.

" Lorne. Major. Evan! Can you hear me? I need for you to open your eyes. Come on man. Can you do that? Major Lorne," John said somewhat louder and sharper "I'm ordering you to wake up. Open your eyes, NOW!"

Even while talking, Colonel Sheppard's hands were swiftly but gently moving over the Major's torso trying to ascertain the extent of his injury. "McKay!" John whispered almost harshly. "Some help please."

McKay, in all fairness, had acted reasonably well under the circumstances. You might say he was semi-used to this sort of thing by now. Unseen danger and imminent death that is. As soon as he had heard John's shout and witnessed the Major falter and then slide to the ground, Rodney had repeated the move, albeit more jerkily and clumsily and had somehow managed to pry his 9mm from his holster as it was pinned underneath him and was now lying on his stomach, alternating between trying to decipher the life signs detector and well, it couldn't be defined as scanning but more sort of peering into the encroaching darkness. Yes. Darkness. While it seemed scant minutes ago the almost surreal blue of the sky that had filtered through the trees was almost nonexistent. They had had little warning of nightfall, but obviously it came very suddenly on this planet and with it a dramatic drop in temperature.

McKay heard John call out to him and although torn between wanting to help Lorne and wanting, no, needing to monitor his equipment, he knew there was really no choice and so glanced at Ronan now crouched at their 6 o'clock and scanning the wood line, then clumsily scooted over to where John sat hovering over Lorne.

"How is he?" whispered Rodney, "Oh, no. Oh no. That looks bad. Really bad. I don't think…"

"Rodney!" interrupted Colonel Sheppard as he grasped him by his shoulder with a steady hand forcing him to stop and look up. "Calm. Down. You're of no use to him, to us…like that…" he ground out, jaws clenched. Colonel Sheppard maintained eye contact with Rodney for several more seconds, his gaze strong, unfaltering, as he tried to infuse his confidence into McKay. Finally, he let go, satisfied that there would only be one person in shock and not two, and focused once more on the prone form of his second in command lying motionless and bloody on the soft floor of the forest that scant minutes ago had lulled them all into a false sense of serenity.

"Bandages, Rodney and something to clean these wounds with!" snapped John. Rodney quickly complied, happy to avert his gaze from the ghastly looking wounds on Major Lorne. Already he could smell the sickly sweet tang of fresh blood. A stench that drew and repulsed simultaneously and one you could never forget once smelled, which of course Rodney had had the misfortune of smelling too many times to count.

Colonel Sheppard, having failed to rouse the Major, quickly felt for a pulse and was at least grimly satisfied to feel a strong beat beneath his fingers. But for how long? He glanced at Lorne's profile and even though his eyes were squeezed shut, it was obvious that he was in pain. Normally, Lorne's long eyelashes, pale smooth skin and soft brown hair, not only made him look quite younger than his 34 years but lent him a quality of boyish charm that even the Colonel couldn't quite emulate. It played hell on the ladies though, although most of the time he thought that his second in command was oblivious to the broken hearts and disappointed glances that he left in his wake. Always a soldier no matter what. On top of that, Sheppard had placed quite a load on the younger man's strong shoulders. A pang of guilt ran through him but he quickly chased it away. This wasn't the time or the place. Right now Lorne needed him. They all needed him and he wasn't about to let anyone down. Again.

John gently eased Lorne out of his Tac Vest and then made quick work of his BDU top, shredding it into strips to be later used for bandages if necessary. John drew in a sharp intake of breath as he lifted up the Major's t-shirt and viewed the extant of his injuries.

It appeared as if multiple shards of a black crystalline substance had pierced the Major's body, from his collarbone to his lower right hip and even down to his knee. Some pieces of the dark substance no more than 1 inch thick at most, seemed to be embedded deeper than others, as he could only see the tip protruding from the skin that was already turning a mottled purplish green color from what he could see under the coating of blood.

Grabbing the bandages that McKay thrust under his nose, he secured them around the more heavily bleeding wounds. Colonel Sheppard could only hope that nothing vital had been pierced. If so, it was only a matter of time. John tried to assess his options, silently cursing his lack of foresight in preparing for this mission. Teyla had requested a few days off to visit with a people whom she had come to know during trips off world to trade, back in the days when she lived on Athosia. Although they were not Athosian like her, she stated that they were like family.

John had thought this the perfect opportunity to invite Major Lorne along, as he had been hoping to discuss some "guy" issues with him and not just as a CO talking to his right hand man. John had noticed the surreptitious glances that Evan had as of late been throwing the beautiful dark haired woman on his team, when he thought she wasn't watching. And in reverse, he had noticed a dreamy thoughtful expression cross Teyla's face when she was in the vicinity of a certain Major. In John's opinion, it was about time someone made a move!

There had once been a time when John would have made that move. Would have chanced his heart for the beautiful and elusive Teyla Emmagan, but somehow throughout the past couple of years, his desire for her had not diminished, but rather coalesced into something different. Something stronger and more intimate. She was his conscious. His best friend. His sister. His fellow comrade in arms….and so much more…

Colonel Sheppard snapped out of his reverie with a fleeting wish that Teyla be here. She was so much better at assisting the injured. Her very essence invoked calm and tranquility. He should know, as he had been the recipient of her ministrations time and time again. And hell, he was pretty sure that Major Lorne would much prefer Teyla's soft yet strong hands to his inelegant fumblings. With that in mind, Colonel Sheppard finished bandaging Lorne up as best he could, somewhat worried that he was unable to remove any of the "projectiles" or whatever they were.

He looked behind him to catch Ronan's eye, only to find that where Ronan had been vigilantly watching the forest there was now only darkness. Dad grammit! Hadn't he just talked to him about the whole following orders thing? "Umm. McKay. Did you happen so see which way Ronan went?"

Rodney, who had been alternating between fumbling with his life signs detector and furtively glancing at Lorne, looked up with a blank expression on his face. "No. No. You didn't tell me I needed to watch him. He's gone? Why? Where would he go? Shouldn't he…"

John swiftly interrupted his ravings with an "All right already. Look at the scanner. Any life signs other than us nearby?"

"I uh. I should've thought of that. Umm. Yep. Here we go. Here's us obviously," he stuttered flipping the scanner momentarily in John's direction, "and here is someone else, presumably Ronan. He's about ½ a Klick that way" stated Rodney as he pointed back over his shoulder in the direction they had come from.

"Okay. Stay put. Watch Lorne. Keep him as comfortable as possible. Ronan's only 500 meters away. I'm gonna go get him. Bring him back. Then we need to figure out options" said John in one long breath, pausing to look Rodney in the eyes, mentally assuring him that yes, he could do this and yes everything was gonna be okay.

Various expressions crossed McKay's face but in the end he simply lowered his head and nodded, muttering to himself, "I can do this. Yep. All me. Nothing I haven't done before. I'm horrible with dogs. Cats. Babies. Kids. Sick people. Sorry Lorne. I'll do my best."

John gave Rodney one final glance before handing him Lorne's P-90 to supplement his 9mm, just in case. "I'll be back in 15. If I'm not, then you take care of Lorne. Wait for day break and rescue. They'll know something's wrong in another 3 hrs. If you hear gun fire, be ready, but stay put. If I don't come back do NOT come looking for me! Got it? Good." At that Colonel Sheppard took off into the dark without a backwards glance.

Rodney knelt down beside Major Lorne and worriedly checked his pulse. Still there. A little weak. A low moan emitted from Lorne's mouth and Rodney immediately felt guilty.

"Keep him comfortable! But with what? Did they have morphine? Was it safe to use? Why didn't Sheppard tell him what to do. He just wasn't good at being nurse maid. Plus, the Major hated him. Well, that might be overstating it just a bit, but he was pretty sure that he was not one of the Major's favorite people, especially after the incident with the sunscreen and being shot with a wraith stunner and oh yeah, being stuck with him under a collapsed building and almost breaking his other leg in his claustrophobic attempts to get out. Yeah, he was pretty much on the Major's s list. Not that he really cared. Or at least that's what he tried to tell himself, because, contrary to his normal un-people pleasing self, for some odd reason he was drawn to Major Lorne, kinda like with Colonel Sheppard, and no, not in a romantic way, just in a fellow comrade-in-arms sorta way. He had never experienced anything like it before. The bond of brother hood so to speak. Or technically the bond of almost getting killed, blown up, captured, eaten, tortured, turned into giant bugs etc etc so on and so forth again and again. But no, really in all actually Rodney had to admit that he looked up to and to a degree (his pride wouldn't completely allow him) he admired the Major. He was able to appreciate the Major's ability to maintain his innate professionalism even in the face of utter chaos. He wished he had the Major's stoic calm. Hell, he even appreciated Lorne's wry sense of humor, somewhat similar if not as scathing (or as witty) as his own.

McKay's thought were interrupted by a deep groan that almost sounded like, "I must be'n Hell. Only you would be there McKay." The words were slurred and laced with pain, but Rodney was pretty sure he had just been insulted. He opened his mouth to retort back, when he realized that Major Lorne's face was screwed up in agony and his breath was coming in and out in short staccato breaths to control the pain he was obviously enduring.

"Major Lorne! I'd give you something for the pain, but I don't know where… how… Colonel Sheppard's not here… and Ronan took off and…." McKay gestured helplessly and moved to place his hands gently on Lorne's shoulders trying to immobilize him as he inadvertently writhed on the forest floor.

Lorne finally relaxed and Rodney almost thought he had slipped back into unconsciousness when he suddenly opened his eyes and softly said, "how bad Doc? Tell me the truth Rodney. "

McKay gulped and nervously wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Umm. Well, we really don't know. We're not even sure what did this to you. What's out there. You seem to be breathing okay, right? So, that's good. It didn't pierce a lung. We've managed to control the bleeding….."

"No, not that," interrupted Lorne lifting his head up slightly off of the carpet of leaves and then obviously regretting the move as his face paled with pain and he slowly lowered his head to the ground. "What are our chances on getting out of here. On getting back to the gate? I don't want anyone else injured If I can help it… and speaking of…where in the blazes is Shep…umm…the Colonel and Ronan?"

The effort of speaking more than one sentence, appeared to have taken its toll on Lorne and despite his concern, Rodney observed his eyes slowly drift close of their own accord, as he slipped back into a restless sleep. Suddenly Rodney's conscious mind became aware of another presence in their midst and he snatched his gun from where it lay beside Lorne and jerkily pointed it into the darkness.

"Easy there Tiger, just us" came the familiar and well, much appreciated voice of Colonel Sheppard, who soon came into view with his hands up in a mock position of surrender along with the tall Satedan at his side.

"How's he doing?" asked John, concern evident in his facial expression and voice, as he fell to his knees beside them.

To be continued….

Ideas anyone??

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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Uncertain Thoughts

Teyla turned her face into the wind, relishing the soft gentle touches that skimmed across her cheekbones as if tantalizing her with unspoken promises. Her tawny hair flowed out behind her flying first one way then another as if the breezes couldn't quite make up their minds in which direction to take it.

Teyla took in the sight of the bustling village below her, hearing and smelling the scene in her mind's eye before either sense actually allowed it. She could smell the strong heady Oil of Taffar, that was unique to this people and which apparently everyone, well the females of this society, felt the need to wear over all uncovered skin despite the obvious affect it had on those of the opposite sex. Teyla herself had acquired a small bottle of this renowned oil along with a few drops of Men'tha mixed in.

"One whiff, and you are his! The Men'tha. No man can resist," the old lady had cackled as she had lovingly poured and mixed the oils for Teyla. A slight pain of guilt wormed it's way into Teyla's subconscious, and instead of pushing it away, as she had been apt to do as of late, she took a moment to sort out her innermost thoughts.

On Athos, both men and woman pursued relationships with each other. Many times though, a child was chosen a life mate by the parents, years before either would even think of choosing. Teyla herself had had many deep friendships with men of her world, but nothing deeply sexual or physical, simply a mutual respect and a strong emotional intimacy. Sometimes Teyla thought her lack of finding a life mate was due in part to her very nature of a warrior.

There was something inside of her that compelled her to fight, to succeed where others had not. To survive, yes, but it was so much more than that. Inside of her soul raged a lioness, untamed and savage, and only allowed release in the most dire of circumstances. Her "fight or flight" responses, as she had heard John describing them to Ronon one day, were much more finely attuned than most. Stemming from a lifetime of living on the edge. Of honing her skills in training and then in battle.

It was not something that Teyla was necessarily proud of; this untamed beast within her. No. It was simply something that had always existed within her. Something that she struggled to contain when necessary. She had finally come to terms with knowing this side of herself. Accepting what she was capable of. It completed her, but she would not allow it to control her.

The difficulty lay in finding a mate who would accept her for who she was as well. One her understood her demons and perhaps carried some of his own. One, whose courage and pride would stand alone and refuse to be dented by her abilities. A man who could look into her eyes and know what she was thinking… A man like….

Unbidden, an image of Major Lorne flashed through the recesses of her brain. _Where in the heavens did that come from? _thought Teyla, somewhat shaken from her reverie. But, once again, she looked into her inner mind and saw his chiseled face. Saw his little quirk of a grin when he had said goodbye to her the day before as she left for her visit to this world. Remembered his blue green eyes lingering a little longer than she thought was normal, before finally turning away.

"Major Lorne!" Teyla had surprised even herself in calling out after his retreating form.

The major had faltered in his step and then somewhat jerkily turned to face her, looking at her with an expression of curiosity mixed with embarrassment. "Yes, Ma'am, was there something else that you needed, ma'am?" he politely said, his head cocked slightly to the side as he once again maintained steady eye contact.

"I," Teyla gulped, not usually one to stumble over words, "I just wanted to entreaty you to watch Colonel Sheppard on your mission. He…tends to get himself injured very often, and since I will not be there to assist him…" her voice trailed off as she felt her face grew red. That was _not _what she had intended to say, but somehow she had lost the courage.

The Major, however, simply held her gaze for a few moments more and then nodded his head in assent. "Yes ma'am. Believe me I know. I'll make sure he stays out of trouble this time. Promise." At this he let his face relax slightly and gave her one of his trademark smiles that drew attention to the dimples on either side of his face and lit his eyes with a pleasing glow of both humor and possibly something else that Teyla couldn't quite identify.

Teyla quickly withdrew her gaze from the Major's face as she realized she might have been staring at his mouth for a few seconds too long. Mortified at what he might think of her, she returned his nod, attempting a slight smile, and unable to maintain eye contact any longer, she quickly turned and walked away in a very un Teyla like fashion.

If only her minds eye allowed her access to a certain Major's thoughts, she would have been in for quite a startling revelation!


	3. Chapter 3

_All right guys and gals. Thanks for all the reviews. Very encouraging. I'm really enjoying writing this. It's kinda just taking me where it goes (real deep right?). So, here's a treat for you. I work next couple a days (12 hr shifts) so it'll be a week maybe before I update. However no need to worry! I WILL update. I wanna know what happens tooJ For some odd reason, I love Major Lorne. Didn't at first, but he slowly grew on me and now he's one of my favorites. _

P.S. thanks for the Ronon tip. Whoopsie! It really should be "a" shwa sound, right. Ah well.

_I probably shoulda warned about the possible Teyla/Lorne thing at first. Sorry. I like them together. Also, there is no Slash here. Just good old guy bonding, cause guys can do that without the other. P.S. I am a girl. Been in the military and am now a cop. SO….. I've been around guys a LOT!! Still not an expert, but I love guys (ahem) and I love to see the intricacies of their man/comrade type relationships. Wish I could be on a show with THESE guys. Ahem. Enough wishful thinking. Back to writing. Enjoy. _

Underground

The weird musty somewhat alien smell was the first thing Evan noticed as he struggled to open his eyes. He felt stiff and awkward, almost as if he'd fallen asleep on the couch and woken up hours later with an enormous crook in his neck….but wait….that was on Earth. Now he was on…Atlantis?? No, that wasn't quite right either. His mind was hazy and as he tried to place a hand on the ground to right himself a sudden searing pain ripped through the entire right half of his body and he cried out involuntarily. Wow. Something was really wrong. If he could just remember, thought Evan as he struggled to control the pain.

"Major Lorne! Major! Are you awake? Umm. Open your eyes?" came the somewhat persistent nasal voice of none other than Doctor Rodney McKay, Evan's not so favorite person in the world. Evan opened his eyes to mere slits and in the darkness of wherever they were he could barely make out Rodney's pale face hovering over him like a spectral ghost. Amazingly, he even looked concerned. Their situation must really be bad, thought the Major with a wry smile.

"I must be in Hell, or this is just someone's idea of a bad joke," muttered Major Lorne, his voice sounding dry and weak even to his own ears.

"I heard that, Lorne," stated Rodney as he gave a slight humph and sat back on his haunches once more out of the Major's field of vision, "and that is sooo not funny. However, since you're injured and all, I'll let it go this one time."

"Umm, that's nice of you Rodney? Now would you mind getting me some water and telling me where we are and what happened?" asked Evan.

"You mean. You don't remember? What IS the last thing you do remember? Oh, never mind," said Rodney, dismissively waving away whatever Lorne had been about to say. "You, Me, Ronan and Colonel Sheppard came to MX345-32 about oh 6 hrs ago now," stated McKay as he glanced down at his watch, "to make contact with an indigenous people of approximately 1,500 or so, "No signs of technological advancement or such, just an easy in and out mission, maybe some trade negotiations for food and possible use of the planet as an Alpha site. You know. The usual. But you had to go and get yourself… umm shot… or whatever and now we come to find out that this planet's circadian cycle is very extreme." at Lorne's raised eyebrow Rodney explained. "That is to say, their day/night cycle is much shorter than we originally thought. Night fell hours sooner than we expected and the temperature drop here is, well, almost arctic. We're lucky that Ronan found this place when he did. " At this McKay paused in his monologue and glanced at Lorne quizzically, maybe realizing that all of this information was a little much for a Major who had just come out of shock and for all he knew didn't even remember his first name.

"Rodney, now that I know that I'm not in Hell but that I am stuck here with, well, you, I could really use that water I asked for, and, some Tylenol.." asked Major Lorne in his usual acerbic tone of voice. What I could really use is something stronger to put me out of my misery, thought the Major, sighing dejectedly. There was no way he would be able to escape the amount of discomfort he was in anytime soon. He had heard of and even personally studied the art of mentally lowering one's pain level through internal meditation and intense self discipline, as after all, pain was only the nerves telling the brain that something was wrong. Although he was able to do this in degrees and in certain circumstances, he soon realized that in his current condition the effort was futile. Wave upon wave of agony pulsed from his shoulder, chest and upper right leg, making it increasingly hard to think and even breathe properly. He was attempting to retain his normal tone of voice and his wit for Rodney's sake, because damn it, he had never seen Rodney quite this scared and at his expense no less, but it was become a struggle to maintain the charade.

Rodney, grabbed some water and Tylenol and helped the Major to sit up slightly so that he could swallow the pills. McKay could tell that the slight effort in moving from the prone position cost him dearly, but Major Lorne, always the professional, clenched his jaw and refused to let his pain get the best of him. Rodney could tell that he was really hurting though. Evan's face was pale and despite the cool temperature of the underground room they were in, he was beginning to sweat. From what Rodney could see of the Major's wounds they were beginning to seep through the makeshift bandages that John had applied earlier. As Rodney gently set Major Lorne back onto the ground, he silently prayed that John and Ronon would arrive soon. Medically, he was not in his area of expertise. Or, for that matter, tending to someone sick and hurt. He was slightly nauseous and profoundly out of his depth. McKay briefly wondered how many power bars he had packed for this excursion and if they'd still be in the bags that Ronon and John had went to retrieve.

Almost as if on cue both men stepped into the room, looking slightly out of breath and wild eyed. Well, Ronon always looked wild-eyed, Rodney amended mentally. Only on John did it look out of character.

"Well, that was close," said Ronon in one breath as he slung two packs to the ground and began inspecting a long jagged gash trailing down the length of his right arm.

Rodney made a quick grab for his pack, quickly locating a power bar and taking a bite before anyone had the foresight to stop him. He made an impatient gesturing motion with his hands and a garbled "Wha'hppned" came out of his half full mouth, urging them to continue their explanation.

Colonel Sheppard looked as he was about to say something about food conservation, but apparently reconsidered. Rodney with a full stomach was a much better thought than "Rodney the Terrible" with a profoundly empty stomach.

"Apparently," John said, giving Doctor McKay a reproving glance, "not only does this lovely planet have half human beasts that shoot strange projectiles at my team," but they also have half animal half plant thingies that just about ate me and Ronon here.

At this statement, Ronon gave his CO a condescending look and added, "No offense, but I wasn't the one too slow to get out of its way." Ronon didn't look the least bit contrite at John's hard stare, but simply got out a bandage and began wrapping his bloody arm.

John gave up and threw his hands in the air helplessly stating, "You really had to be there Rodney. They looked like giant pods. With hair. They come at you from vine-like suspensions from up in those big red trees." John said gesturing towards the ceiling of the cave, at which Rodney looked up worriedly but of course saw only the reassuring rock walls that encased them. "It was kinda cool at first," John continued. "I mean, we didn't know they were going to try an eat us! When they started to move and make this awful screaming noise… well Conan here cut one off and that's when we saw the eyes and the teeth." At this John shook his head causing a viscous like gel to fly off of his hair, some of it ending up on Rodney's face.

"Urgh. Gross. WHAT is that!" yelled Rodney his voice rising octaves higher than it had any right to.

"That pod thing spit it out on John." Stated Ronon nonchalantly with a slight smirk, now chowing down on Rodney's half eaten power bar that had been flung across the room in his sudden movements to rid himself of the gunk.

"You know," stated Rodney with his arms now crossed in front of his chest indignantly "I can't decide which is grosser." Ronon simply smirked as he finished off the power bar, licking his fingers clean in the process.

Rodney's mind, as always, was still traveling 12 million miles a minute and after a second's pause he asked, "So, how did Rambo here get the gash? A little careless of someone's teeth, hmm??"

Ronon had the grace to look slightly embarrassed and John filled in the silence for him. "He fell."

"What! No way." cried Rodney, thinking of ways to leak the info into the rumor mill or better yet create a betting pool on what had happened.. Or… he was rudely interrupted from his revelry by a pair of deadly brown eyes staring into his own mere inches from his face. "Don't even think about it" growled Ronon. "You will not live to regret it."

Rodney visibly paled, but indignantly stuck his chest out determined to maintain fake bravado. "You wouldn't hurt me. You wouldn't dare."

"No," stated the big Satedan, matter of factly, "But I might let it slip that I saw you and someone doing something on peir 26...late at night…You had on a….."

"Stop!" squeaked McKay "Ok. Ok. Enough already. You've made your point. Jeez. Do you always have to be such a…"

At this Colonel Sheppard decided that it was past time to step up to intervene and stated, "Rodney, believe me when I tell you that no one really wants to know what you and a certain female were doing on a pier late at late, much less what you were wearing! Now.. Can we all be grown ups for a minute and try to figure out a way outta here. Put that brilliant mind of yours to use?"

"Sure. Whatever," muttered McKay, still glaring at the big hunk of muscle who was still chuckling in the corner of the cave.

"How's Major Lorne doing?" asked Sheppard, "has he woken up yet?"

"Major Lorne is alive" said a low, husky pain-filled voice coming from the spot where Evan lay covered in emergency blankets, "and has a Rodney sized headache, Sir…" the Major added quickly.

"Well, good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor, Major" said John as he knelt to check on his second in command. "How's the pain, Evan?"

At hearing his given name coming from his CO's mouth, Evan forced his eyes open to look at Colonel Sheppard in surprise. It wasn't that the Colonel had never called him by his first name, but the times were few and far between. He knew the civilians on the team often called his CO by his first name and vice versa, but Evan got the feeling that Sheppard liked to maintain the professional barrier between himself and those under his direct military supervision. Except of course for Teyla and Ronon, but those two fell into an entirely different category. It wasn't as if he and the Colonel were friends so to speak. In reality they were night and day. Where his CO was laid back and semi-irreverent of military dress and protocol, Evan was the consummate soldier. Ramrod straight. Always yes sir. Never questioning orders. Well, thought Evan, hardly ever. He supposed some of his CO's tendencies had rubbed off on him as of late. All of this flashing through his pain-filled brain, Evan thought of brushing off Sheppard's question with a standard, not bad sir, but realized that he'd see right through it. No point in lying then. Evan gave a sigh, that was quickly stopped short by the pain gripping his chest, and let out a "damn near killing me sir."

John took in Lorne's pain filled demeanor and silently bemoaned the fact that there was really nothing more he could do for him now or in the immediate future. "Just hold on, Major. We'll get you outta here in one piece, more or less," John added "I promise."

Evan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at this and even bit back a chuckle.

"What is it Major? You don't believe me?" asked John, somewhat taken back by Lorne's reaction.

"No, Sir. It's not that. It's just that I promised Teyla the same thing…about you…before we went off-world. She made me promise to bring you back in one piece." stated Lorne with a wry smile.

"Hmmph." was all John could think of to say. "Let's take a look at you then."

Evan tensed as he felt his CO remove the emergency blanket from his right side and gently probe his injuries.

"Ok. That's weird," said John. Ronon and Rodney looked up and came over to see what had happened. "The projectile things. They're gone." Sheppard gently pried some of the bandages off, cognizant of the fact that Evan was struggling to hold in a moan of pain, his pale face turning red in the process. "See. All gone." John pointed to Evan's red streaked flesh and where once the black crystalline shards had been imbedded were now gruesome gashes that bled sluggishly in their place. The skin around the gashes was tinged with an unhealthy shade of red and purple.

Rodney peered at Lorne's chest and immediately turned his head to the side, struggling to maintain his composure. He coughed into his hand, hoping no one had noticed his discomfiture. Meanwhile, John inspected the remaining wounds on Evans shoulder, hip and upper right leg, trying to maintains the Major's privacy as best he could with the emergency blanket. Admittedly, there were only guys present. It was just somewhat of an unspoken rule really among guys. If you didn't have to look you didn't. Not unless you were of the other persuasion, which John knew for a fact that his second in command most definitely was not. After the inspection, John knew what was coming would not be pleasant for Evan. In fact, he really wished the man wasn't conscious. His injuries looked bad. Infected. Even despite the lack of projectiles sticking through the skin, John knew that Lorne needed serious medical help and the faster the better. But until help was sent, the wounds needed to be thoroughly cleansed. John caught Ronon's eye who immediately knew what was going to take place and gave a curt nod of his head. Sheppard asked Rodney to grab the iodine and the water, the only cleaning solutions they had brought with them in their meager first aid kit, and then tried to engage Lorne conversation if only to keep him calm until they began.

"So, Major Lorne, Teyla told you to keep an eye on me, did she?"

Lorne eyed his CO suspiciously but nodded his head slightly in assent. "Yes Sir. She did."

"Well, I guess you had to go and turn the tables, hugh? How much are you gonna lose on this one?" asked John, eyebrow quirked as he stared intently at his second in command and surreptitiously applied some iodine to a clean bandage out of Evan's line of sight. Lorne attempted to maintain a façade of ignorance but soon gave it up in light of his Commander's knowing stare, and sighed saying "Well, Sir, seeing as you know about the wager on you getting yourself injured on every other mission…. 350.00 Sir."

"But" continued Lorne, who, once in for a penny was in for a pound (or is the other way round?) that's nothing compared to the two grand that I've won on you. Sir." Smirked a somewhat not so lucid second in command, who if he had known what he was revealing to the man that controlled his missions, his extra duties, his recommendations, heck even his love life, would probably have thought twice.

Remarkably Colonel Sheppard's only response was a small humph and with a nod to Ronan, who quickly secured Evan's body to the floor, John applied the cleansing solution to Evan's wounds. This time there was nothing he could do to stop the scream of pain that tore from chest into his throat and out his mouth. Colonel Sheppard grimly continued to clean the long gashes as thoroughly as he dared as Ronon continued to hold Major Lorne's contorting body to the ground.

Mercifully, after several never-ending seconds the Major collapsed back onto the ground, unconscious. His spent body trembling slightly under John's administrations. Colonel Sheppard quickly finished the painful task and finished rebinding Lorne's wounds. Covering Evan's body back up with several emergency blankets and several of their own BDU tops, John felt for the Major's pulse, assuring himself that he was still with them.

Colonel Sheppard let out a sigh, realizing that without really meaning to he had become somewhat attached to his perpetually chipper if somewhat acerbic XO. He really hadn't wanted to, John thought bitterly. He already had too many friends whom he cared and worried about. Teyla. Ronon. Keller. To name a few… And Elizabeth and Carson… now gone. All the friends and former comrades from his past. He could even now see their faces, looking at him in pain and disappointment. Reaching out to him. If only he could have helped… John glanced at Evan Lorne, who even though only 4 years his junior, looked so much younger. So innocent. But John knew that wasn't the case. Lorne had seen action in the military. Had worked for several years at SG1. Had lost several team members. John had read most of the reports. He liked to know the potential emotional problems or "triggers" of the men that he worked closely with.

Lorne, though, somehow he was different. Somehow, unlike John, he had managed to come away from those experiences and still view the world, well, the universe as an adventure. As an explorer's dream come true. Despite the Major's somewhat sarcastic tongue, John could see the barely contained excitement in his eyes when they breeched the gate to an unexplored planet. When they met new people. When they tasted new food!

There always seemed to be this childlike sparkle in Evan's eyes, that somehow in the past few months had become infectious. John himself had become lighter in heart since having Lorne in tow, able to share the burden of command and something more with this remarkable young man. Shaking the thoughts from his head, John, sat back on his heels and surveyed the seemingly man-made cave that Ronon had discovered scant hours ago. "Gentlemen. We need a plan and…" John glanced at Lorne pointedly, "We need one fast!"

XXX


	4. Chapter 4

Ok. Sorry guys. I have not abandoned you or the crew! Simply been very busy with work and life.

So, some Shep Whump here and not so much Lorne in this chapter. I kinda struggled with this so I apologize for any incongruence.

Any suggestions?? I am always open to ideas. PLEASE ENJOY!!

CHAPTER 4

Teyla breathed a silent prayer for patience as she bid farewell yet _again _to the kind family who had been gracious enough to house her in her stay with the Surnoan people. They were indeed very similar to the Athosians in dress, custom and well… long, drawn out goodbyes. Teyla had always prided herself on her ability to maintain her inner calm and outer appearance of serenity, but today she found herself struggling to control her chaotic emotions and _this _troubled her more than anything. Her stay with the Surnoan's should have lasted for 2 more days, but after a scant 5 hours she had felt the unquestionable urge to return to Atlantis. Something was horribly wrong and each second longer that she was forced to delay was keeping her away from the ones that she now held in her heart as her true family.

Teyla bit her lip as yet another parcel of fresh produce was lovingly pressed into her hands and she was forced yet again to take the time to thank the giver. She mentally chided herself for her ungrateful attitude but breathed a sigh of relief when she finally was able to turn and dial Atlantis, hoping beyond hope that her intuition, for once, was wrong, and everything on her new-found home would be as it should.

XXX

"Got some wood," stated Ronan as he ducked back inside the cave/underground room, bringing with him a gust of cold air. It must have dropped at least 10 degrees in the last 30 minutes and the only one that didn't seem to be affected by the frigid atmosphere was Major Lorne, who even now lay sweating lightly from a fever. John quickly took part of the load and helped to arrange the logs and kindle a fire in attempts to stave off the chill. Rodney looked up from where he was fiddling with his laptop in attempts to charge the battery with his portable charger which so far had failed him. Rubbing his hands briskly he scooted over to the growing warmth and bluntly stated, "Its about time. At least we won't freeze to death now."

Sheppard merely rolled his eyes and checked his watch. "We're overdue on checking in by one hour now."

"Which means what exactly?" prompted Rodney.

Ignoring him, Sheppard continued, "Carter should have a team ready to go in an as much time and add the two hour travel time to the planet and another hour in the woods unless they can find a clearing nearby to land the jumper… Normally it'd be Lorne's team getting my butt out of trouble, but…" John glanced over at the Major who appeared to be dozing, finally. "Were going to have to trust her to send us the best."

"Teyla will wanna come" stated Ronon resolutely as he blew into the fire and continued to add bigger and larger branches to increase its heat. His face bathed in the golden light looked both beautiful and feral at the same time.

"She hated not being on this one with us" he added. "She can't stand the thought of us having too much fun without her."

"Umm… guys?" asked Rodney raising his hand from where he sat cross legged next to Colonel Sheppard by the fire. "We don't even have radio contact. When the gate was activated at our designated check in time, we weren't able to receive or transmit. For all we know they won't be able to pick up our IDC's either."

Glancing at Ronon and John, and the growing looks of understanding dawning on their faces, he said, "Yep. That's right. They'll have no idea where we are. They'll have no idea of what they're walking into either. And," Rodney threw his hands up into the air gesturing dramatically, "you forgot one thing. According to our initial studies, nightfall wasn't supposed to come until, oh, three hours from now! Carter won't send a team until dawn. But for all we know it will be night again by then. We have no idea how long it stays dark on this planet!"

"O.K OK." interrupted John. "We've got some major problems. Let's calm down and think" he said firmly and pointedly glanced at McKay, who now had his hands out in front of the fire staring at the orange blaze as if hypnotized.

"We know for sure they'll wait until when they think daylight will come, which for them will be in 7 hours. We're gonna have to wait it out and then have someone will have to go back to the gate to lead them in. That creature struck at dusk, so maybe they only come out at night. Either way, I think we're going to have to chance it" said John resolutely as he glanced in Lorne's direction.

"I'll go." grunted Ronon from where he sat stoking the now leaping flames. Sheppard wanted to speak up to intervene but stopped when Rodney spoke up as well.

"I'll come with you. When it's time I mean," added Rodney, quickly looking up and meeting Sheppard's questioning look.

"It makes sense. Two is better than one. I'll keep track of any danger with the life signs detector. That way if something happens…" his voice trailed off. Ronon looked as if he were about to protest, but before he had a chance McKay spoke up again, "John. Let me go. I'm not helping anyone by being here. This cave is driving me nuts and well…I'm not very good at being helpless. At least by going I'll give the Major a better chance," Rodney quickly blurted fixing Sheppard with a pleading, almost desperate gaze.

John reluctantly nodded his head in acquiescence, hoping that he wouldn't regret his decision. He looked at Ronon, who merely nodded his head in unspoken agreement that, yes, he'd look after McKay and make sure he got safely to the gate.

"Well, gentlemen," said Sheppard. "Now that we've got a game plan, let's try to get a few hours of shut eye. Since I'll be staying, I'll keep watch. You guys get some rest."

McKay quickly stood up looking somewhat uncomfortable. "Umm. I kinda need to," he jerked his head awkwardly in the direction of the outdoors "relieve myself." He immediately exited the cave without so much as throwing either man a backwards glance.

Ronon sighed when Sheppard told him in not so subtle language to follow Rodney outside _just in case. _"Why do I always have to be the babysitter?" he mumbled under his breath as he followed McKay out into the frigid night.

Less than three minutes later John heard a shriek, if you could even call it that, and then several whining shots from Ronon's blaster. Then, utter silence. John glanced at Lorne, who was still either asleep or unconscious and quickly making a decision he grabbed his P-90 and ran to the cave entrance only to collide nose to nose with a white-faced Doctor Rodney McKay.

Ronon followed and merely stepped around the two who now stood both rubbing sore noses. Well, one nose appeared to be a little more than merely sore…

"Rodney, for the love of….!" blew out John in one pained breath. "Oww! Please tell me you didn't give me a broken nose for nothing!" he exclaimed in a somewhat muffled voice.

McKay, whose hands were squeezing the bridge his nose in a position similar to that of the Colonel's, peered over his fingers to look rather penitently at John who sported a now gushing nose that was visibly swelling. He would most definitely have raccoon eyes in a few hours.

"Sorry. Sorry. Really. Here, take take take this," stuttered Rodney in his worry, excitement or both as he threw a cold compress at the Colonel almost hitting him in the face… again. "But you won't believe what happened! It was phenomenal! Really extraordinary! It was…"

"Rodney. Just. Tell. Me. What. Happened. " ground out Sheppard, taking McKay by the shoulder and forcibly sitting him down next to fire in an effort to calm his over exuberant speech.

"It was what got Lorne. It wasn't a man at all. It was the plant! The thing from before. You know. What you and Ronon saw earlier. The thing that almost tried to eat you!"

At John's questioning look, Rodney sighed exasperatedly acting as if he was dealing with a 12 year old child, which in truth, was sometimes how he felt. He spelled it out.

"The pod thingy that came down from the trees. You said it was covered in hair and you saw eyes and a mouth and it spit up some really gross viscous fluid which you very kindly splattered all over me," McKay stated over-exaggerating every word.

"Okaaaay. I still don't get it. What happened? How do you know the pod, _thingey_," said John, rolling his eyes at copying McKay's less than eloquent description, "is what shot Major Lorne?"

In answer, Rodney gave John a _how could you ever doubt my intellect _look, and merely reached into his pouch and produced four very sharp very dangerous looking projectiles that mirrored the ones that had been lodged in Major Lorne's shoulder, chest and thigh before they had dissolved. "This is how." He stated. Well, and…." his voice trailed off at he glanced at Ronon who still stood blocking the cave entrance with his hand wrapped around an undisclosed object. "That" he concluded as Ronon gave a strong tug on whatever he was holding and in came a very ugly very dead giant hairy pod.

John looked up at Ronon, incredulous. "It missed." said Ronon, shrugging nonchalantly as if it were every day that he brought home giant hairy pods with eyes and teeth. "I didn't."

Before John could say anything Rodney piped in again. "I think it's partially sentient too. It has the ability to disguise itself as a human. I'm not sure but I think it saw us and then put the image in our heads that it was one of us. Manipulating our thoughts and fears. Not to a great degree mind you, but amazing nonetheless. When I heard its screech I saw what looked like a man running towards me, presumably to shock me into non movement so that it could shoot its projectiles into me and paralyze me with pain. Then it would have plenty of time to wait until the projectiles melted to consume its prey. Thankfully, Ronon here was able to react and kill the thing. What I still have to figure out though is if they black crystals have another use. Do they first paralyze the victim with pain and then paralysis? Or do they carry a toxin that breaks down cellular makeup so that the prey will be edible? We really need to wake Lorne up and see if he's feeling any other affects." At this Rodney jumped up and started to walk over to the Major.

"McKay," Sheppard called out, halting Rodney mid-stride, and secretly wondering what kind of lungs the man had to be able to say as much as he did without a single pause for breath. You'd think he'd be in better shape!

"Not so fast. Lorne finally managed to fall asleep. I think he needs rest right now more than anything else. Anyways, there's nothing you can do for him until we get that substance back to the lab and him back to Atlantis. "

Ronon, who had been silent as usual during the entire exchange, glanced at John and asked, "what do ya want me to do with this?"

"Put it outside for now. We don't want to attract any _more_ wildlife." He glanced reprovingly at Rodney, who was now oblivious to any other going ons as he happily munched on his last power bar. John merely shook his head. Hopeless.

"Get some rest guys. Five more hours and we'll get the heck out of here."

Ronon lay down next to the fire, instantly asleep, while McKay took ten minutes to organize his gear, arrange a makeshift pillow and finally settle down. John simply sat a few feet from Major Lorne, with his back to the cave wall, his feet warmed by the low flames from the fire and his eyes on the cave entrance. It was almost surreal, he thought. He could almost imagine himself back home with his buddies, camping in the Appalachians like he used to do back in his college days. But those days were long gone, nearly erased from his memory by the uncaring desert sands of Afghanistan, Iraq and other places that he did not care to remember. John struggled to pull his thoughts back to the here and the now. New team members. New friends. And yes, he hated to admit it, but new friends to care about, including his second in command Major Lorne. It was up to him to bring him home. Back to Atlantis and to the friends and comrades who cared about him. "Umm.. John." a voice that sounded distinctly like Rodney's interrupted his reverie.

"In all the excitement, I never did get a chance to… You know…."

_At least he had the nerve to look semi-penitent, _thought John with an exasperated sigh. _Scientists! They were all the same. _


	5. Chapter 5

_Thanks Reviewers!! SORRY this took so long! I now have the story more organized. I know where its going. Actually wrote some notes down! Yikes. I know. So….. Anyhow. I really appreciate everyone's kind reviews. Encourages me to continue. I will try to have Lorne more cognizant of his surrounding in the next few chapters so that we will get more of him!! Love you guys… Enjoy. Probably lot of typos……._

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Teyla couldn't help but let out a breath of pent up frustration the moment she walked through the Stargate and stepped out onto the smooth ornately tiled floors of the gate room. She was mentally exhausted from the forced civilities and never ending formalities that she had endured with the Surnoans. Normally, this type of interaction, while sometimes boring, was usually pleasing to her senses, soothing her soul so to speak, but with the growing urgency that something yet un-named was wrong she had to stifle the urge to break into a jog across the wide expanse of floor that led to Colonel Carter's office.

Colonel Samantha Carter rose from her desk to meet her, her face betraying a practiced mask of professionalism with an underlying expression of concern that she had never quite mastered in hiding.

"Teyla, you're back somewhat earlier than expected. We received your request to return early but with no explanation. Is there anything I need to be concerned about?" asked the Colonel softly.

"I would ask you the same, Colonel" responded Teyla. She hesitated then, wondering how much she should or could reveal to the new commanding officer of Atlantis. A woman that she respected greatly but did not know enough on a personal level to have absolute trust in…

"As you may have heard, I sometimes have the ability to sense when great danger is coming. This ability has saved me and my people from death and cullings many times over. I know you have read the mission reports but what you may not know is that this ability does more than allow me to sense wraith. There have been times in the past when I felt this and warned my people and soon thereafter a…" at this Teyla struggled to find the right words, "…natural disaster, as you might say on earth, would come to visit my planet. Other events have been more specific. Such as a child that fell into a well. There are many more examples, but yes Colonel, the reason I have returned is because I have felt this now. That something is terribly wrong. I feel that Colonel Sheppard's team will now face a threat that they are not capable of escaping without our help," stated Teyla with a calmness that belied her inner turmoil.

Colonel Samantha Carter took a moment to survey the young woman who stood in front of her. She hadn't had to read John's performance reviews, recommendations or even the mission reports to know that Teyla Emmagan was a woman of courage, grace and integrity. One look into her hazel eyes and Sam had instantly known that Teyla was worthy of her trust and her respect and maybe… if Teyla would allow, her friendship. Carter sighed, knowing instinctively that what Teyla had suggested was indeed true. She said as much to the young Athosian, relaying to her that the team was indeed late in checking in. Not unusual for Sheppard's team, but it usually meant that something was up. This, combined with Teyla's "premonition" did not look good.

"Normally, I'd ask Major Lorne to take a team, but…" Carter gave Teyla a quick once over, assessing her physical state and level of exhaustion and balancing this with what she knew would be the inevitable outcome if she refused. Making a decision she simply said, "Go. Assemble a team. Bring Dr. Keller and three marines. Keep me updated. "

Teyla's eyes alone relayed her relief in being allowed to go to aid her teammates and if Carter was right she saw a certain amount of gleaming trust and mutual respect reflecting from them as well. She only hoped that she had made the right decision.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Colonel Sheppard busied himself with maintaining the fire and checking on Lorne. Staying awake wasn't a problem, not with McKay snoring away louder than a steam engine not ten feet away from him. He was almost at the point of throwing rocks at him to shut him up but then he thought better of it. McKay was going to need all the rest he could get. Especially if he was to keep up with Ronon in a scant 1 ½ hrs. John absently rubbed his nose and instantly regretted it. Pain radiated outwards in intense waves for several seconds finally dying down to a quiet humm of discomfort. Geez! McKay owed him BIG time! Glad he hadn't brought a mirror along as he was quite sure his face was now a myriad of colors. At least the cold had kept the swelling at bay. Thank the heavens for small favors right?

John glanced over at the Major and realized he had been sleeping for over 3 hrs now. He needed to wake him up and get some fluids in him. Evan groaned in his sleep as John gently shook him by his good shoulder to rouse him. "Open your eyes Major. I need you to wake up for me," said the Sheppard.

It was obvious that Evan was disoriented as he cracked his eyes open and tried to peer around the room, which was somewhat difficult given his prone position.

"Major. Do you remember what happened? Do you know where you are?" asked John quietly.

Evan slowly began to stir then merely blinked his eyes owlishly, his forehead wrinkling in confusion.

"That's okay, Major," John quickly reassured. "Can you lift your head a little. I need you to take a few sips of water for me."

Evan merely looked at John strangely, his eyes somewhat unfocused, but then he appeared to try and lift his head up only to grimace and cry out in pain. John took over and did the work for him, gently lifting the Major's head up to a slight angle and allowing him to sip from the canteen. "All right, Major. That's enough for now." Although in truth, John didn't know if Evan was even capable of swallowing at this point. He appeared to be shaking lightly from the exertion it had taken to drink.

"How's he doing?' came a disembodied deep voice from behind John's left shoulder, causing John to jump in surprise and then relax as he realized it was Ronon.

"Don't really know," replied John. "He appears to be in quite a bit of pain, still has a fever and doesn't seem to know what happened or where he is. I'm seriously outta my league here, Ronon."

Ronon merely gave him a look and asked "Is there anything I can do?"

"No. Yes." said John wearily. "Lets get you and Rodney to the gate. Getting Lorne out of here as quickly as possible is our best bet. We're on borrowed time."

Ronon wrinkled his forehead at this last expression but just as John allowed a small smirk to appear he saw a look of understanding cross Ronon's strong features. "Right" was all he said. "I've got to take a leak" Ronon turned around quickly and caught John before his CO and friend could get a smart remark off. "…and I don't need a babysitter" Ronon growled. John merely smirked some more, glad for a moment of levity that momentarily lifted his increasing sense of foreboding and frustration.

John allowed his eyes to drift slowly shut then suddenly opened them as a jolt of fear and adrenaline ran through him. Ronon! He had left over 5 minutes ago. It didn't take that long to… John jumped up and started shaking Rodney to wake him up. He didn't want to leave the cave with two sleeping men inside and no protection.

"G'way.. Leave me lone." muttered McKay. Just as John was grabbing Rodney's blanket from off of him, prepared to rip it away and expose the scientist to a hearty dose of cold, he heard Ronon's distinctive voice coming from outside the cave.

"You breathe wrong and you're dead! Now move!"

John had his weapon up and at the ready as he yelled out to Ronon. "Got everything under control out there big guy?"

"Yep. Coming in now."

John quickly covered the entrance and then the two individuals who looked rather fearfully pathetic and motioned them over to the far wall. Ronon ducked in after them, stating, "woulda asked you for help but you might not have heard me over the Mac Truck over there." At this McKay, who now appeared wide awake, narrowed his eyes and sputtered, "I so do not…. Hey where did you learn about Mack Truck's from? Sheppard?" he glanced accusingly in the Colonels direction.

Sheppard merely allowed a faint grin to grace his face before getting back to the business at hand. Who were these men? They didn't appear to pose a threat as not only were they disarmed, courtesy of Ronon, but appeared like less then healthy specimens of humanity. They were both male, with scraggly beards, pale skin and gaunt faces, their cheekbones protruding as to appear almost unnatural. Truth be told, they looked like POW's or other victim's of starvation. Underfed and malnourished.

"So….gentlemen. Either one of you care to enlighten me? You guys from around here? Have names? I'm Colonel Sheppard."

The two men, who in all actuality were similar enough in weight height, hair color etc to be brothers, glanced at each other nervously. The one on the left who had the bushier eyebrows and beard and whom Sheppard mentally dubbed as "bushy" secretly hoping they would refuse to give him their names, appeared to be the one in charge and spoke up.

"I am called Thrush and this is my colleague and friend Esmis," he said in a somewhat scratchy voice.

"Thrush? Seriously? You know that's a nasty ailment…." began McKay as he was cut off by a furious glare from Sheppard. "Rodney!" he said, "Now is not the time.

Thrush merely gave a nervous glance at McKay and continued on. "Our," he stammered, "Our people are called the Thantu and we reside in small villages and towns on several of the major landmasses of this planet. We live not far from here. In fact," he said hesitantly, "we knew someone had come through the Stargate but due to the Neshi we were unable to get to the gate to meet you. It has been some time since any other but the Wraith have stepped foot on this planet and now not even them." Thrush exhaled a long breath as if it had exhausted him to admit so much to strangers. He glanced over at Major Lorne, still comatose, and stated, "We would ask for your help in a matter of extreme importance and in return we may be able to help you." He glanced over at the Major significantly.

John glanced over the group before deciding on a response. McKay looked interested and hopeful if somewhat suspicious or maybe he was still thinking about a guy named "Thrush." Ronon had an intense look of distaste and distrust etched on his face and Major Lorne who by all assumptions was not in the conscious world, was now moving around and even rolled his head to the side to peer around the cave.

"What I'd miss guys? Always enjoy a good party." Lorne's voice, although gravely and weak sounding did not hold the tone of confusion and disorientation it had earlier. He appeared coherent and sober enough to crack a joke. Good 'ole Major Lorne. John knew his stubborn second in command wouldn't give up without a fight.

"Major," John said in a warm tone, "good to see you back with us. These are the people we were looking for when we came through the gate, the Thantu. And this is Thrush and Esmis," he said nodding in the two strangers general direction. They were just about to explain to us what the Neshi are and how they will help us and us them." John cleared his throat significantly.

"Umm… Yes." started Thrush in a tentative voice, "Well, long story short, we were once a great civilization with large thriving cities, millions of people and an overabundance of trade. We had discovered the Stargate and were just beginning to establish off-world exploration and trade when the Great War began. You see, there were many rival factions and some in particular felt the others were taking advantage of the less technologically advanced factions. Access to the Stargate was selective. Basically whoever had the most power, in terms of weapons and soldiers, was in control. There were others who were afraid of the technology. They saw use of the Stargate as a defiance of the gods. To them it was sacrilege and they would put a stop to it all costs. War broke out. We used horrible weapons that our so called technology allowed us to create. The cities were decimated. The land was destroyed. The soil full of harmful toxins. The chemicals left over from the weapons caused those who remained to become sick and disfigured. We survived as well as we could and slowly began to regroup although 70 of our population had been wiped out in the Great War. "

Thrush seemed to take a moment to regroup his thoughts and emotions, glanced over at Esmis who gave him a almost imperceptible nod of encouragement and then continued.

"That was over 100 cycles ago. We have only now begun to work the land. To harvest and hunt. Until the Neshi found us. Once a small plant that was quite common to see in the bogs or forests, eating only small rodents and insects, now it grows like a plague and fells many of our people. We can no longer enter the woods to search for our staple food, the puntan, which grows just under the surface of the earth in the red tree forest. We are forced to go out in large parties to hunt and rarely catch anything as we are too fearful of the Neshi which come from nowhere and place images in ones head before they strike. Very few survive a Neshi attack," stated Thrush, as he quickly glanced in Lorne's direction, "but…we do have some remedies. We beseech you for your assistance, however little it may be. We are at a great loss at what to do and our people are slowly dying of starvation and disease. "

"Pitchers Plant. Venus fly trap. Sundew. Butterwart. Bladderwart. Eeeesh! There's gotta be something more. Plant Biology. Genetic mutation. Methyl….no..no..no…Think Rodney think!" everyone turned rather mystified eyes to McKay who sat rocking back and forth muttering seeming gibberish to himself while hitting his head repeatedly with the palm of his hand.

"Rodney. Care to share with the rest of the class?" asked Sheppard in a no-nonsense tone of voice.

McKay ignored John and addressed the individual known as Thrush. "You didn't by chance use weapons that had a bi-product of ethylene?" and before allowing them a chance to respond continued, "it's been rumored that mass quantities of ethylene causes mutant phenotypes which would affect the chitanese proteins which would theoretically affect the growth rate of plants and massive amount of ethylene… well, there's no telling what would happen. So its possible that…"

"Yes." interrupted Thrush in a very quiet voice. "That is exactly what we believe happened," he said, looking in Rodney's direction but refusing to maintain eye contact as if the shame of his people's actions was too much to bear.

"We were the engineers of our own demise" he stated sadly. "We just don't know how to reverse it. Or… even kill it. But enough of our own troubles. We will revisit that later and maybe you may have some ideas or the resources to help us…" he stated, with a tinge of hope hidden in his words. Thrush then slowly stood up on shaking legs and Sheppard and Ronon instantly trained their weapons on him.

"Not so fast!" growled Sheppard.

"I only wish to inspect your injured man" stated Thrush nervously glancing back as Esmis. It is possible that I can help him. He was shot by one of the Neshi, correct?"

John looked at Ronon and McKay then slowly nodded his assent, but moved over to Lorne protectively to ensure that he would not be harmed further. He needn't have bothered as he heard Ronon's low growl.

"You hurt him, I hurt you" stated Ronon with no room for any doubt.

To Thrush's credit, he only gave a slight shudder and quickly knelt down beside the Major and quietly began asking him questions as he gently probed his wounds.

Major Lorne now appeared to be quite out of it, apparently staying conscious for most of the previous diaglogue had taken his remaining strength and he was now only semi-conscious and unable to respond except in faint groans of pain.

"How long has it been?" asked Thrush in conern.

"Ummm.. 5--6 hours," stated John glancing at McKay and Ronon.

"When did the Amii dissolve?" asked Thrush. At everyone's confused looks he clarified, "the black pointed projectiles?"

"Oh, right, about 3 hours ago," said Sheppard.

Thrush looked very concerned but said nothing for several moments until a very intimidating shadow loomed from behind him and Thrush glanced back to see the barrell of Ronon's large gun centimeters from the back of his head.

"Yes. Yes." Thrush stated nervously. "I explain. The Neshi injects a poison into the system that at first causes severe pain and then slow paralyisis of all major organs. Basically it slows the hearbeat, blood flow etc. of the victim so that the Neshi can take its time eating it while the victim maintains life in a sort of suspended animation. However, Major Lorn?? he still has a chance" Thrush interjected quickly. "But, we must get him back to the village immediately! He must be injected with the antidote, or rather not a complete antidote but something we have come up with to counter the affects. Very few have survived, but…." at this Neshi perused the faces of his new found potential allies. "We will do all we can."

It was McKay who broke the silence.

"Well. What are we waiting for? Let's get out of here!!"

TBC……………………..

Like? Hate? Suggestions? Improve?

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	6. Chapter 6

OK reviewers…. Sorry sorry sorry sorry this took so long. Be warned, It is a little dark and kinda short, but hey, at least I'm back J Thanks for being so kind and waiting for me. I hope you enjoy.

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_Hues of pink and purple flitted past his eyes. A childish giggle. Red curly hair. A bright innocent smile. _

"_Come on E'van," she pleaded, over-enunciating the "E" in his name. " I wanna play hide and seek. Will you play with me?" Charis asked as she impatiently twirled around in her new dress that already showed evidence of dirt and grass stains on the backside. _

"_Yeah, I guess so Charis," sighed an 11 year old Evan Lorne. Go hide and I'll count to fifty."_

"_One-hundred Evee," Charis pleaded as she looked beseechingly at her older brother, "Count to one-hundred."_

"_Fine," Evan grumbled unable to resist the pull of Charis's sweet smile and glittering eyes, alight in childlike joy and mischief._

_The images took a sudden turn as Evan Lorne suddenly fought not to remember the horrific events from his past. _

_Flashes of red. Darkness. Pain. His parents grief and agony. Guilt, overriding it all. Such sweet innocence taken from the world and no one to punish. Except himself. He was the one who let her go. Who thought she was hiding. _

_Evan remembered smiling as he called her name and stalked towards her favorite hiding places: the hayloft in the old barn, the first limb of the old apple tree, the small space under the house where old Blue liked to sleep. But he never found her that day. Never heard her bell-like giggle as she looked up to her older brother in adoration. _

_That day changed his life forever. He supposed it was the day he grew up. The day he too was torn from his childhood and made aware of the monsters that lived among them. He was only left with a deep dark grief that as many real "monsters" he managed to kill, never quite went away. It was what kept him going. What ate at his soul and forced him to fight. _

_Except, now… he was just so tired. So tired. He didn't know if he could go on. Even for Charis._

_Sobs filled his chest, his throat. Clenched at his heart and threatened to erupt from his mouth. For the first time in years Major Evan Lorne, USAF, second in command of a fairy tale city known as Atlantis, truly cried…_

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John glanced down at Major Lorne, who lay on a makeshift travois of sorts as they silently pulled him through an eerily quiet forsest. The Major's face was pale but sweaty with obviously lines of pain etched into the furrows of his forehead. His cheeks were tinged with red. Not the healthy flush of activity but the red that comes from fever and infection. The only sounds heard were the crunch of their boots as the small group was led along a winding path through the giant trees that towered over them.

Esmis and Thrush led the way and Ronon and John pulled the travois as Rodney, God help them all, took up their six. The quiet was suddenly but not surprisingly broken.

"How much farther?" Rodney whispered harshly, his labored breaths evident in the cold air as he sent great puffs of mist into the atmosphere.

"You're the genius, Rodney," Colonel Sheppard answered back just as harshly, "A two hour trip minus the uh," John glanced at his luminescent watch, "24 minutes we've already walked leaves us…."

"Yeah, Yeah, I get it," mumbled McKay, "I was just hoping we'd time traveled or something. You should really warn a guy of impeding, long arduous danger fraught hikes…I woulda hit the treadmill or something…"

The only response McKay elicited was an undignified snort from Ronon.

"You know," continued McKay, eternally oblivious to any immediate threat or the tactical need for light and noise discipline, "…unlike muscles here…"

"SHUT UP!" whispered John and Ronon simultaneously as they continued to walk forward with the travios and glare backwards at Rodney at the same time.

McKay merely scrunched up his nose and gave a condescending hand wave, as his P-90 came dangerously close to pointing at both John and Ronon. To the relief of his fellow teamates however, thankfully, he shut up.

Approximtely 45 minutes later Esmis called for a halt stating that it was time to reapply the "plant juice" that John had so ineloquently dubbed it. According to the Thantu, the Neshi would smell it and assume it was another one of their own. It wasn't failproof, as it had to be reapplied often, but it was their best bet on getting Lorne back to the Thantu village alive.

John was trying to be gentle when he softly rubbed the viscious purple looking substance onto Major Lorne, but apparently not gently enough as the Major began to moan and writhe in obvious agony.

"Charis!" he weakly gasped, "Charis. No. Please God. Please…. Char…"

"Major Lorne, you with us? Wake up. It's just a dream. Wake up Evan!" commanded John, softly tapping Evan's good shoulder in his efforts to rouse him.

"Who's Charis?," asked Rodney from where he had collapsed next to a large tree the second Esmis had called for a break.

"Don't know." stated John bluntly "but we need to wake him up before he does more damage to his inuries."

_Evan saw her now. Her once pink dress covered in blood. But she was smiling. That innocent sweet smile that only children have to offer. She beckoned to him her eyes pleading. And then a great shard of pain stabbed through his right shoulder, his chest his hip and leg. Evan crumpled to the ground even as the scenery began to change. Blurry faces slowly came into focus as Charis' lovely face dissipated into the mist. _

"Evan. Hey there partner. You okay? You were having a nightmare, Major. You're okay now," said John even as he glanced over at Ronon and realized that was a lie. They were all royally screwed.

"Yeah. Fine. Said Evan hoarsely as he owlishly blinked his eyes up at his CO. Umm… where are we and what the hell happened, hmmm, sir?"

John glanced at Ronon again and patted Evan on the shoulder. "Fill in the blanks for him big guy," he said to Ronon, "I need to check in with Esmis and Thrush. You hold on Evan. Hold on, Okay?"

"Yes sir," mumbled Evan as he managed to give John a left handed salute when he realized his right arm wasn't working properly. _Was something wrong with his memory? He felt like he was missing out on something real important. The right side of his body felt weird. Like it was numb but there was this deep throbbing pulse of pain underneath the numbness. His thinking was sluggish and the only thoughts he could hold on to were startling images of his baby sister. Images that he hadn't seen or thought of in years. That he thought were gone and buried never to resurface. Only now….._

"Hey guys," asked John as he walked over to the two Thantus who were seated at a tree across from Rodney's. "At the risk of sounding as lame as my scientist over there," he said guestering to McKay who sat obliviously unaware of his surroundings as he munched on a power bar, "are we almost there? Major Lorne is getting worse. He's forgetting things. Getting delirious maybe. Burning up to the touch…"

Thrush glanced over at Esmis nervously. "Stage three. He is nearing the end. We must hurry, but it is still a fair walk to the village. If it is as you say then we must act fact. Act now. I had hoped it would not come to this but…. I have a temporary remedy."

"Great. What are you waiting for?" asked John somewhat testily as he inwardly wondered why they hadn't revealed this "remedy" to them earlier.

Thrush's answer caught John completely off-guard.

"We must catch a Neshi" he stated somberly, his hazel eyes locking with John's.

John merely closed his eyes in annoyance and verbalized his previous thought.

"Yep, were screwed. Big time."


	7. Chapter 7

He was hungry and cold and covered in purple slime in the middle of an alien forest with freakish plants out to eat him alive. Nope, life couldn't be better. Just another day in the catastophre filled world of Doctor Rodney McKay. Oh, and he was hungry. So hungry in fact that if it wasn't filled with slime, he could probably eat a Neshi or whatever the heck the nasty things were called, and did he just hear Thrush say… No.. couldn't be… but one look at John and his fear was confirmed. Yep, now on top of everything else, they had to stop in the middle of this delightful fairy land they found themselves in and go Neshi hunting. Maybe if he clicked his heels together or slapped himself silly he'd wake up and it would all be a big scary dream. Not likely. Seeing as the last few years would all be a big scary dream.

Rodney looked at John wearily and shook his head, "Let's just get this over with then. Can someone please enlighten me on the fastest, safest, most efficient and oh, least likely way to be killed, to catch a Neshi?"

Thrush, who now that Rodney thought about it had really really nasty looking teeth, _did this civilization not hear of dentistry and proper tooth care?, _quickly stepped forward and ignoring Rodney, directed his plan to Sheppard and Ronon.

"They are most active at this hour, we must simply rid ourselves of the plant nectar and play bait. Once they lower themselves from the tree they are the most vulnerable. Those of us still protected will be able to see through their mind games and we must go in for the kill. Here, he said," handing John and Ronon each a small contraption that appeared to be used in shooting darts. "This weapon will be most effective in taking one down without killing it. It in effect uses their own poison against them, paralyzing them."

"McKay, you and Esmis stay with Lorne. Ronon, Thrush and I are off to catch a Neshi." Taking note of Rodney's obvious distate of the idea by his oh not so subtle frown and crinkled up forehead, John added with a slight smirk, "and buck up Rodney, it could be a lot worse. At least Jen's not here." And with that the three men disappeared into the darkness.

McKay squatted down next to Major Lorne, his back against one of the ancient trees. He really hoped they didn't have tree mites or spiders or….a slight movement from Major Lorne put a halt to his train of thought and had him glancing warily at the Major, really hoping that he didn't wake up. Rodney was self admittedly even worse than Elizabeth at bedside manner. He felt awkward, and well… useless… and not used to giving words of comfort.

Another glance at the Major, and Rodney noticed that his movements and the odd sound he heard was actually that of Evan's teeth chattering. He was shivering and his whole body moved with shaking movements that could definitely not be good for him, considering.

Rodney, without allowing himself any self reflection, quickly shucked his jacket off and placed it over the Major's upper torso, taking care to tuck it in carefully on Evan's bad side. It seemed to help a little as his shaking subsided to occasional small quakes of movement. Evan remained blissfully unconscious, something that Rodney was almost wishing for as he rubbed his arms against the penetrating cold. He glanced at Esmis who had his back to them both and appeared to be searching the forest for any signs of movement or danger.

It had been 14 minutes and counting, Rodney thought to himself, his own teeth now chattering. Rodney slowed stood up to stretch his aching legs, _how did Indians squat for so long anyhow?_, only to be tackled full body by a hard human feeling object. He thought he heard a squawkish sort of scream emit from his mouth, before he landed in the soft needles and tried to reorient his spinning head and make a grab for his now cumbersome weapon and disentangle his arms and legs at the same time. He heard rather than saw the soft thwack of a primitive weapon being fired and then the angry scream of what could only be a primitive, hairy and very angry looking jungle plant, now lying comatose at his feet with a very angry looking Thantu lying next to it, his weapon still pointed at the Neshi and his breaths coming out in fast sucession.

"Why? Wh…" Rodney began sputtering, then noticing Esmis glance suggestively at Major Lorne. Major Lorne who was now covered in Rodney's jacket and Rodney who was now stripped to the waste and _not _covered in the protective plant juice….

His mouth gave a big "oh" and he gave Esmis a crooked smile and said, "well, that's one way to catch a Neshi, right."

Esmis gave a disgusted shake of his head, brushed himself off and walked over to the Neshi, which he began to poke and prod. Pulling out a small knife he efficiently cut into the outer layer or hide of the thing, and going deeper still cut into a small pouch several inches into the plant. He quickly severed the pouch from its sorrounding layers and deftly cut a small hole into the bottom.

"Hold him up" he uttered. He must drink this. Once the Neshi have been injected with their own poison they create their own anti-dote. This will go great lengths in eradicating the poison in your Major. He already has the fever. We do not have much time, he stated in his slightly accented English."

Rodney ungracefully stumbled to his feet and knelt beside Major Lorne, gently rubbing his chest in an effort to wake him. Lorne groggily opened his eyes to mere slits appearing once again confused and unaware. Rodney not having the time to go into detail simply told him that he was sitting him up and he needed to drink. Then without further adue, Rodney pushed Lorne up to a semi-sitting position, bracing himself behind the man who appeared too weak and confused to put up a fight or to hold himself up for that matter. McKay tried to ignore the obvious signs of pain on the Major's face, from the tightness of his expression to the quiet huffs he was making as he struggled to breathe.

Esmis quickly walked over and between the two of them got most of the foul smelling liquid down the Major's throat. Rodney was trying really hard not to gag and really it was a blessing that the Major was only semi-conscious, because he was quite sure he never would have swallowed that awful stuff willingly.

A sudden noise broke both men's attention from getting the final drops of the liquid into the Major's mouth and they looked up to see John, Ronon and Thrush breaking through the woodline to rejoin the group. They all carried looks of defeat in their faces and McKay watched as John's crestfallen look of hopelessness and failure slowly changed to one of hope and triumph as he looked from McKay to the large Neshi lying not 12 feet away.

McKay nodded his head in affirmation. "We went Neshi hunting too," was all he said and McKay didn't miss Ronon's slight bow of the head as he silently acknowledged McKay's feat. Rodney couldn't help but be a little proud, and was about to tell the glorious tail of the Neshi slaying until he suddenly remembered his not so smart move that precipitated the heroics. Maybe another time when Esmis wasn't around, McKay mused to himself. Yeah, he thought to himself, as he took another quick peek at Ronon who had a slight look of awe in his eyes, definitely another time.

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The next two hours passed without incident, thank the heavens. The team was quiet but tense as they walked through the slowly lightening forest as dawn began to worm its way amongst the giant red trees and foliage far below. The major either slept or was unconscious as he was carried through the woods by his fellow comrades and Rodney surprisingly failed to utter a word throughout the remainder of the journey.

Finally the forest broke and John could see the outline of a small rural town with dark gray plumes of smoke rising from the rustic but sturdy looking thatched homes. _At last some rest! _thought John as he wearily shifting his hands on the travois and wiped a drip of sweat from his brow, careful not to touch his still swollen nose. Not exactly in the best condition or appearance for diplomatic relations…. He thought with a wry grimace. Esmis and Thrush beckoned them to wait at the end of the clearing while they announced the presence of strangers to those on watch. Definitely not the time for friendly fire, they advised. John could only agree and wearily lowered Lorne's travois to the soft pine-covered ground and glanced at McKay, who by all appearances looked like a walking goo-covered freakishly pale and dirty zombie. Although, sporting his own assortment of injuries, John thought that he probably didn't look much better.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, but in reality was only several minutes, Esmis, Thrush and a small contingent of both men and woman approached the Atlantis group, who wearily rose to their feet to greet their hosts and rescuers. Esmis quickly introduced the leader of the settlement, a stately looking red bearded man named Thorin, and John found he hardly had the strength to hold his hand out in greeting and mumble a few words of thanks. Noticing the need to get them off their feet, Esmis quickly ushered them all to a house near what appeared to be the center of the small village, as several of the Thantu quickly picked up the Travois even as John bent to bear the load. Giving the gracious Thantu a relieved smile and nod John trudged behind the small procession, hoping beyond hope that Evan was going to come out of this alive.

Ducking into the hut, John's first thought was that it was blessedly warm, smelled like freshly made bread and was much larger on the inside than the outside. Esmis bid them all to shed their gear and offered them chairs circles around a stone hearth type fire. The remainder of the Thantu's drifted away after wishing the newcomers welcome once again. Before leaving, Thorin asked if he might meet with them on the morrow, once the group had rested. Of course John agreed for them all. It was the least he could do to repay them for their generosity. Sipping a cup of piping hot tea that had a delicious nutty flavor to it, John let his eyes roam around the earthy room at his teamates who either sat or in Ronon's case sprawled, on their own respective seats. Rodney appeared to be reveling in a piece of spongy delicious smelling bread that had been offered to him after he had followed his nose to the oven and asked if it was ready. Ronon appeared deep in thought, eyes half open staring at the entrancing flames of the fire. Lorne however lay in a side room and was being attended to by Esmis's wife Thiota, the maker of the lovely smelling bread and the woman of the house they now occupied. John knew he needed to check on his second in command, and soon, just a few more minutes of relaxing his sore and aching muscles he told himself drowsily…..

Several minutes or several hours later, John didn't quite know, he found himself being gently shaken from the melded position on the chair that his body had seemingly betrayed him on. Opening bleary eyes he saw that both Ronon and Mckay lay on mats next to the hearth and a third mat, assumably for him, lay next to Ronon's. John thanked Esmis, who had woken him from permanent muscle cramps and disfigurement, and slowly lowered his weary body onto the mat, but feeling slightly guilty but not knowing why. Suddenly remembering Lorne, John sat up quickly almost bashing his already sensitive nose into the table leg. Esmis quickly turned around from where he was leaving the room and walked back to John.

"He is still asleep. We attended to his wounds as best we could and cleaned them with our best healing ointments. Although there may still be infection and internal damage, his fever has gone down slightly. My wife Thiota will watch him. There is nothing now that you can do to help your friend except rest," stated Esmis in a hushed and caring voice.

John simply nodded, relieved of his panic momentarily. Maybe that was the best thing he could do right now, he thought. He really needed to rest. And with that John turned towards the fire and let the slowly dwindling blaze lull him into a fitful sleep.

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Major Evan Lorne felt the gentle hand of a woman, softly washing his forehead. Caught somewhere between wakefulness and sleep he softly sighed and imagined himself back to the years when he was a child and the few occasions where he was sick with fever and not too old or manly to care and he had allowed his mom to gently and lovingly stroke his face with a cool washcloth. The gentle murmurings of the woman who did so now slowly lulled him back to his dream like state and once again Evan was young and free of burden, sorrow or care. He was 7 years old and he walked hand in hand with Charis, his baby sister, barely old enough to walk. Evan had always loved being a big brother, even is his seven year old friends thought it was stupid to spend time with a "baby." From the moment she had been born, Charis had captured his heart. She was all bright eyes and glowing sun stroked hair. Forever getting him into trouble but always looking at him with eyes full of love and adoration. In Charis's eyes Evan was her big big brother and he could do no wrong. Except, he did. That day when the sun was shining its fullest and the grass was glowing in its greenness. That beautiful awful day in which the world forever changed and Evan was no longer a big brother, because he had allowed the world to take away his beautiful little sister.

Evan twitched and moaned in his sleep as he struggled with the memories unconsciously reliving that horrible day that had forever hardened him. It had been years since he had allowed himself to dwell on Charis and her death. He had lovingly wrapped her picture and put it carefully away in his chest, knowing that he had not the emotional capacity to look at her sweet smile and forever be reminded that he had failed her. That the world had failed him. Evan thought that traveling millions no trillions of miles from earth would allow him to bury… to forget… to move on.. . It hadn't. It had only made it worse. Subconsciously now he felt someone in the real world, a woman perhaps, attempting to soothe him but he would have none of it. Trapped in his dream world of guilt and anguish and anger Evan stubbornly refused to awake. It was his burden and his alone to bear.


End file.
